BIRS Workshop — Explicit Moduli Problems in Higher Dimensions

The central problem in algebraic geometry is to classify so-called algebraic varieties: geometric shapes cut out by algebraic equations. Algebraic varieties are parametrized by certain moduli spaces (parameter spaces whose points correspond to these different varieties) and the geometry of these moduli spaces encodes the ways of continuously deforming these shapes. Furthermore, classification questions for algebraic varieties often boil down to understanding the geometry of these moduli spaces. In the past few years, powerful new tools have been developed in moduli theory but there are still many open questions, especially in higher dimensions. This workshop will bring together a diverse group of researchers in moduli theory in order to apply these new tools to explicit examples of the classification of higher dimensional algebraic varieties and their moduli spaces and push our understanding of higher dimensional algebraic geometry to new frontiers.